Sunday, 30 December 2012

So, we reach the end of 2012 and for me, this has been the Year of Vampirella. Previous years were known as the Year of the Zombies (2009 - 2011) and prior to them were the Year of World Works Games (2008) and the Year of the Clowns (2007). These designations are based upon the most amount of money I spend on a particular subject and in 2012 I spent more on Vampirella than anything else. Thanks to the number of Vampirella statues and other merchandise I bought this was always going to be her year. Since I started work on my blog almost four years ago, I have spent a ridiculous amount of money on 28mm scale zombie figures. 2012 was no different to previous years in regards to my expenditure on them but something changed this year. I made a concerted effort to buy large scale, and quite often, expensive, models and statues of Vampirella. I am delighted with my collection but I doubt very much if I'll buy any more next year. That could change if I win the National Lottery but with my luck with money that is highly improbable.

As this is a time of reflection, I'd like to mention five of my heroes of 2012. First up is Ed Teixeira of Two Hour Wargames, who released Final Fade Out - the ultimate version of All Things Zombie, my favourite zombie skirmish game a few months ago. I was honoured to be asked to play test the rules, but even if I hadn't, Ed would still have been one of my heroes just for consistently releasing great skirmish games that can be played with opponents or solo. This latter point is hugely important to me since my gaming group disbanded and scattered to the four winds shortly after 2001. THW has been an absolute godsend to me, allowing me to participate in gaming without an opponent.
2012 saw the emergence of a new card scenery company - Stoelzel's Structures. As followers of my blog will know, I am a huge fan of card scenery, especially the work done by World Works Games. It took me a while to take the plunge and make one of Carl Stoelzel's models (it was the Cottage) but I was well aware from the outset that Carl was going to be a serious rival to WWG. As I got to know Carl through his forum and comments on various blogs, including mine, I realised what a great guy he is. He listens to criticisms and suggestions and acts upon them. I now have no hesitation in saying his card models are the best on the market.
Another newcomer called Carl is Carl Sutherland (aka Rovanite) of Grekwood Miniatures. He also set up shop in 2012 and he is just as friendly as Mr. Stoelzel. I was friends with Carl's brother, Gareth, on the Forum of Doom and was very saddened by his death at a tragically young age. Carl set up his miniature figures company to honour Gareth and I am very heartened to support Carl in this noble venture. The fact that most of Carl's figures are zombie related is a huge plus for me.
One figure company who have been going strong since 2009 is Studio Miniatures. I have said time and time again on my blog that they make the best zombie figures on the market. Earlier this year, they teamed up with Indiegogo to produce a range of plastic zombie miniatures. I was one of the first people to pledge financial support to this project. It easily surpassed its financial target and their plastic zombies are every bit as good as their metal zombies. I received my parcel of 176 plastic zombies, plus extras about a month ago. You can well imagine my surprise when I received a second parcel of 40 plastic zombies plus extras a few weeks later. Stuart, the head of Studio Minis, included a note with the parcel, thanking me for all the positive reviews I had given his company on my blog. This parcel was a thank you gift in appreciation of my kind words. So, I have no hesitation in nominating Stuart as another of my heroes.
A close contender to Studio Miniatures for the title of best zombie miniatures maker is Tengu Models. Their range of zombie figures is much smaller than that of Studio but they are all very high quality. A couple of months ago, Iain at Tengu released a load of new zombie figures, including zombie dogs and zombie aliens. He kindly sent me a few free samples, again for the work I do on my blog. I am currently painting his new stuff now, so expect a full review very soon. Iain gets the nod as my fourth hero of the year.
Last but by no means least is the author Max Brallier. Max wrote the novel Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? a Fighting Fantasy style novel. I loved the book, which I reviewed in March of this year. Max really earned his hero nomination when he suggested I run a competition on my blog so that five of my lucky followers could win a copy of his novel. This was an extremely generous offer of Max's and the competition was a huge success with a large number of entries.

With the new year rapidly approaching this is a good time for making plans and resolutions. However, I have never been a one for making resolutions. As for my plans for 2013, they are the same as my plans for 2012 - paint more figures, make more card scenery, buildings and vehicles and continue my ATZ-FFO campaign. Now that I have finished making my Stoelzel's Warehouse (review coming up early next year) I am undecided on what building to start next. Possibilities include making my Blue Dragon Chinese Restaurant with the exterior based on the Stoelzel's M.U.C.K. set, although I may wait until Carl releases M.U.C.K. 2. I definitely want to make the Stoelzel's Circus for my Killer Klowns. Sunny is demanding I make it next! There are a lot of other Stoelzel's models that I want to make but the big problem is finding the time to make them.

The only film that I have seen at the cinema in December was Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2. Well, I had seen the other four, so I had to see the finale. Actually, it wasn't too bad. Bella (Kirsten Stewart) had annoyed the hell out of me in the previous films for her whiney attitude actually came good in the end, but only because she had been transformed into a vampire. Bella the human = thumbs down. Bella the vampire = thumbs up. I am currently reading The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson. This is part two of the Millennium trilogy. Volume 1, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was very slow to get started but really picked up after about 200 pages and got a lot better as it went on. The same is true of Volume 2. I am going to read all three novels before I buy the DVDs.

I hope you all had a great Christmas. As you will have seen from my last post, I certainly did. My Sideshow Collectibles 1/4 scale Vampirella statue is just awesome! The only other undead related stuff that I got were my 2013 calendars for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and True Blood. I'll sign off by wishing you all the very best for 2013. Happy New Year everyone!

Wednesday, 26 December 2012

A short while ago I placed an on-line order with Amazon for my main Christmas present. My mum very kindly agreed to pay for it. Considering how much it cost this was an extremely generous offer. No, I'm not saying what I paid for it, but it was the most I have ever paid for a figure. For quite some time now I have had my eye on the Sideshow Collectibles 1/4 scale Vampirella statue. As soon as I saw her I fell in love with her and I knew that I had to have her. It is quite simply the best figure of Vampirella I have ever seen and without doubt, the best Christmas present I have ever received, even if she did arrive early.

This is the box that the model came in and it is HUGE! The box measures 26" by 22" by 8" (66cm by 56cm by 20cm) and features this stunning piece of artwork.

And this is what is inside the box - Vampirella sitting on the skull of a dragon, surrounded by human skulls and bones with a rat trying to keep hidden from view. You can just see the rat lurking in between the two human skulls.

At 1/4 scale this statue is tall. The base measures 14.5" by 10" (37cm by 25cm) and Vampirella is 13" (33cm) tall. If she was standing up, you could easily add another 3 or 4 inches to her height. She is cast in heavyweight polystone and weighs 18 pounds or just over 8 kilograms. Believe me, that is some weight!

Vampirella's hair is much longer on this model than how it usually appears in the comics but I am not criticising the sculptor for that because I think it looks gorgeous. It is so full of movement

The model comes in numerous parts. Vampirella's head and arms are attached to her body with powerful magnets. The skulls, bones and rat are attached to the base by means of plugs. They tend to move about if you pick up the model but Vampirella herself and the dragon skull are held firmly in place

The painting of Vampirella is exquisitely done. Just look at her face - it is truly outstanding. Note that her earrings are gold-plated rather than painted. Her skimpy red costume is made of shiny, red leather. Yes, I did what any other male would do and I checked to see if her nipples had been sculpted on. They had been!

The painting of the skulls and bones and the rat is equally impressive. Just check out the amount of shading on this close up. Likewise, notice the shading on the base as well.

I only have one minor criticism to make of the model and you can see here that Vampirella's bat logo is missing from the crotch of her red costume. If I hadn't mentioned it, I very much doubt if any of you would have noticed that. You have to be a big Vampi fan to notice a little detail like that.
I keep most of my Vampirella models and statues in my bedroom/man cave. However, this one has pride of place on our china cabinet in the living room. Even my mum couldn't fail to be impressed by the quality of this sculpt and she was quite happy for me to display it so prominently in our lounge.
I have managed to collect a fair number of Vampirella figures, models and statues over the years but none have had quite the impact as this one on me. This shows Vampirella at her best. She is sexy, confident, playful and stunningly beautiful. Not only has she made this my best Christmas ever, she has made my year. I hope your Christmas was as good as mine!

Sunday, 23 December 2012

Sadie Walker is Stranded by Madeleine Roux is the sequel to the excellent Allison Hewitt is Trapped. To quote the blurb on the back cover of the novel, "In the months since The Outbreak, Seattle has become a walled fortress - the Infected are kept at bay, and the survivors are trying to scrape back a life. But the city is rife with crime, religious cults and black-market dealings. And things are about to get worse.When a group of frustrated fanatics, the "Repopulationists", destroy part of the wall, zombies start swarming the city. Sadie, devastated by the kidnapping of her young nephew, must find him and get them both out before it's too late. But the only escape is by sea, and she's seen for herself the horrible fate of those who tried that route before..."
Reading that, I thought that a lot of the novel would be taken up with Sadie's search for her nephew and her escape from Seattle but no, that part was all wrapped up in chapter two. Sadie and her nephew, Shane, do escape on a boat with a handful of other survivors. They don't get far before they beach on an a nearby island, where they spend most of the rest of the novel, surviving as best they can.
Sadie is a very different character to Allison Hewitt in that she is not so good in a fight and she has an annoying tendency to act first and think of the consequences later, usually when she realises that what she has done was monumentally stupid. Prior to the zombie apocalypse she used to be an illustrator, so I had some sympathy for her. However, there were times when I felt she needed a good slap to knock some common sense into her. For example, near the end of the novel she takes Shane and they sneak away in a little rowing boat because she was sick of the other survivors and she thought that Shane and her would be better off on their own. Silly woman! She rowed half way around the island before common sense hit her and she was forced to return to the others with her tail between her legs.
Sadie also spends a lot of the novel brooding about whether she is a good enough replacement mother for her young nephew Shane. She copes as best she can but she doesn't always deliver on her promises to him and that frustrates her and annoys Shane. Sadie is the first of the group of survivors from their boat to go off and explore the island. She promises Shane that she'll be back before sundown but when she discovers that the island is not uninhabited and that zombies dwell there it takes her a lot longer to return to Shane and the others.
Although the novel was set in a different part of America to Allison's adventures there was a nice piece of continuity between the two novels, as Sadie used to follow Allison's blog and was a big fan of her. Whenever she got stuck in a tricky situation (a common occurence!) she would often say, "I wonder what Allison would do?"Sadie Walker is Stranded is certainly an entertaing zombie novel, but is not as good as Allison Hewitt is Trapped in my opinion. Therefore, I'd give it a 6 out of 10 rating.

This will be my last post before Christmas, so I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. Incidentally, my next post will be on Boxing Day and I'll tell you all about my best Christmas present ever! Have fun!

Wednesday, 19 December 2012

My review of my Chinese restaurant staff that I posted last time went down extremely well. So, in a similar vein, here are a collection of five 28mm scale sexy waitresses that I'd sculpted in the 1990's. These were designed to be used in a seedy nightclub for a role-playing scenario. I can't remember which game I originally made them for, but they have seen use in a few different RPGs that I games mastered..

At the far left of the photos is Rachel. I only gave the girls forenames. She is either inviting guests to the club or showing them to their table.
Next to her, Cindie is shown holding a silver serving plate as she makes her way back to the kitchen.
In the centre of the group, Zoe, is cheekily bending down to place her plate of drinks on a guests table. If you look at the rear view of her, you'll see exactly what I meant by "cheekily bending down!" Nice view!
My favourite sculpt of all the girls is Emma, who is fourth in line. I love her smile which has come out perfect. I also love her flirtatious pose as she cheekily hoists the side of her dress up.
Last in line is Debee, who stands in a static pose with her hands on her hips.

The inspiration for the uniforms came from an unlikely source - an old X-Men comic. A couple of the X-Men superheroines infiltrated a Hellfire Club meeting by disguising themselves as waitresses. These figures are inspired by those illustrations. I had a lot of fun sculpting and painting these. I thought that they'd provide a bit of festive cheer to my blog.

Sunday, 16 December 2012

I'd like to show you some of my own 28mm scale figures that I sculpted way back in the 1990's. These are my Chinese restaurant staff, who were sculpted as NPCs for my Feng Shui RPG campaign. Feng Shui was one of my favourite gaming experiences and was a huge amount of fun to play and to games master. Published by Atlas Games, Feng Shui was set in contemporary times and dealt with the Secret War, a global conflict in which various factions sought dominance through the control and acquisition of feng shui sites, places of mystery and power. The heroes of the game were known as the Dragons. They were a minority group of humans, whose numbers had been decimated by the other factions. My campaign was set in Hong Kong, which was the default setting for the game. The player characters' base was the Blue Dragon Restaurant, a minor feng shui site. These six figures that I'm about to review were the staff who were involved in the day to day running of the restaurant. Most of them knew nothing about the Secret War.

Two of my players had characters who owned the Blue Dragon Restaurant and lived in apartments above it. However, they spent a lot of time adventuring and were often away from home, so they hired Lau Yu, seen at the far left of my photos, to be the restaurant manager. Lau Yu was a typical inscrutable Oriental type and he always had a severe look about him. He was in his mid-50's when my campaign started. He came to Hong Kong from Shanghai just after World War 2 ended. He has lived there ever since. He had always been fascinated with sorcery and he collected books of Chinese magic. He knew a few minor spells but he knew nothing about the Secret War.
Su Yin, seen holding a meat cleaver, was the head chef. She was in her 40's, and was fat, cheerful and a superb cook. She previously worked at the famous Floating Jumbo Restaurant in Aberdeen Harbour on Victoria Island, Hong Kong. Su Yin would gossip with anyone who impressed her, regardless of nationality. She knew a lot about the Triad gangs of Hong Kong but never discussed them openly. She knew nothing about the Secret War.
To the right of Su Yin is Tony Zhang, a 17 year old nephew of Lau Yu. The old man hired him to teach him a trade and some discipline. Tony was frequently in trouble at school for fighting and truancy. Since training to be a chef at the Blue Dragon, he settled down under the tutelage of Lau Yu and Su Yin. He, too, knew nothing about the Secret War.

Chun Wang, fourth in line and shown holding a bowl of food, was the head waiter. He was 25 years old and a heavy set man. He was a neighbour of Su Yin, who recommended him to Lau Yu. Previously, he worked as a waiter in one of Wanchai's (a district of Hong Kong Island) seedy nightclubs. He was also a fledgling Sorceror who knew a few Weather spells. Although he knew how to handle himself in a fight, he'd deal with really bad situations by creating a mist to escape in the confusion. He knew nothing about the Secret War.
Yung Wu, shown polishing a glass, was the restaurant's bartender. He was in his early 30's. A good-looking guy, he had a joking manner and was very friendly. Although he was quite a flirt with any beautiful women, he would never betray his wife and three children. He also knew nothing about the Secret War.
Last in line is Li Feng, the only staff member to know anything about the Secret War, although he kept his knowledge well hidden. He was a very introverted person and rarely had anything to say to anyone. He kept his head down and quietly got his waiter job done. He wore his long hair in a ponytail. He proved himself to be good in a fight and his martial arts training saw off more than one intruder or belligerent drunk. He claimed to have come to Hong Kong from mainland China, but he remained very evasive about his past or his original home. In actual fact, he escaped from the Buro future of 2056 into the present day. He spent some time helping the Jammers, an anarchist group from the future, in their fight against the Architects of the Flesh, one of the major factions of the Secret War. However, he decided he didn't like the Jammers either, and left them to lead a quiet life without attracting attention to himself.
These were all minor characters in my campaign and this is reflected in the way that I sculpted them. Most of them were sculpted in very static poses. This was deliberate on my part as they were meant to blend into the background. On the few occasions when a fight did break out in the Blue Dragon Restaurant, these six took a back seat and let the player characters deal with the threat. My group of player characters were more than capable of defending their homebase.
Back in those days, I used 2D floor plans extensively. How my gaming habits have changed nowadays. One of the card modelling projects on my "to do" list is to make a 3D version of the Blue Dragon Restaurant. I envisage a three or four storey building with a minimum 12" square footprint. The ground floor would be the kitchen and food storage area, The first floor would be the restaurant itself and the floor/s above would be the owners' apartments. I have it all planned out in my head. I just need the time to turn my ideas into reality.

Wednesday, 12 December 2012

As promised last time, here is my review of the Black Cat Bases 28mm scale Los Nortenos Hispanic gang, which comprises five male gang members and their canine mascot, Carlos. As with the female gang, Las Chicas, I have named all of the gang members myself, apart from the dog, who was named by the staff of Black Cat Bases.

Starting at the far left is Eduardo Jimenez, one of two bald-headed members of the gang. He is holding his 12 Gauge pump-action shotgun in a casual pose. All of the gang members are dressed very casually and they all wear designer-label training shoes. Eduardo is dressed in a baggy shirt over a white T-shirt and cropped baggy trousers. He also has a rolled up grey bandana tied around his head.
Standing next to him is the figure I have nominated as the gang's leader. This is Guillermo Aquino and he is armed with an Ingram MAC-10 Machine Pistol. Note the sunglasses sitting on top of his head. He is dressed in an identical manner to Eduardo, apart from the bandana. His beard and moustache make him look slightly older than the others, which was one of the reasons that I chose him as the gang leader. Plus, he is wearing a gold wristwatch, gold bracelet and gold-rimmed sunglasses, so he is clearly richer than the others.
Third in line is Oribe de Jesus Torrado, the second bald-headed gang member. At first glance he appears to be armed with nothing more than a metal baseball bat. But if you look at him from the rear you can see he is about to draw a pistol that was tucked into the back of his trousers. Sneaky devil!

Moving on, we come to Ramone de Nigris, the least well armed member of the Los Nortenos. He is armed with nothing more than a knife. Presumably, he must be very good at melee combat for him to shun a firearm. He has a crazed look in his eyes and I'm guessing he is a psycopathic killer.
Javier Lugo is the fifth member of the gang and he is armed with a Big Ass Pistol. He wears a baseball cap, back to front, naturally. The reason that he is bending down is that he is supposed to be holding a leash that is attached to the collar of the dog. I took one look at the leash and decided that I didn't want to use it. I'd rather have the dog and his handler as two separate figures. You may feel differently and the option is there to combine the two figures into one unit.
Speaking of the dog, Carlos is the name given to the gang's mascot. Carlos is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, or as they are often known as, a Staffie. He has been sculpted in an aggressive pose, leaping at someone with his teeth bared menacingly.
One of the reasons that I particularly like this set (and indeed all of the BCB gangs) is that they are not excessively armed, like for example, many of Foundry's Street Violence gangs. Just look at this gang's weapons. They have a shotgun, a machine pistol, two pistols, a baseball bat and a knife. That, I think, reflects the real life of many of the gangs found in the inner cities of America.
You can purchase this set of six figures for £12.00 from the BCB webstore. Alternatively, the figures are all available separately, retailing at £3.00 each, apart from the dog, who only costs £2.00. Finally, a word about the scale of these figures. All of the BCB gang figures are described as being 28mm scale and for once, they are. No sign of "scale creep" here. I highly recommend every one of them.

Sunday, 9 December 2012

At first glance you'd be forgiven for thinking I'm reviewing more prostitutes with this set, but then you notice that these ladies are all armed and dangerous. This set is the Black Cat Bases 28mm scale Las Chicas gang from their Gangsters range. It comprises five female Hispanic gangers and their mascot dog. The dog's name was taken from the BCB website, but I have come up with the names for the five humans.

At the far left of my two photos is a Yorkshire Terrier dog, whom the ladies have called "Wookie." He has a pink bow tied to his head to show he is a "girlie's dog." He is probably the smallest 28mm scale figure I have ever painted. He is tiny! But if he was any taller, he wouldn't be a Yorkshire Terrier.
The first of the humans, in the red pants and blue top, is Rosita Hernandez. She is armed with a 9mm Micro-Uzi Machine Pistol. Her hair, which she has parted in two, is incredibly long, flowing all the way down to her backside. I painted the lower half of her hair in a reddish brown, which from a distance looks like a fox-skin wrap. Note her high heel shoes with the leopard print colours.
To her left is Salma Alvarez, who is wearing a pair of leather-skin pants over a white bikini. She can't have tied the belt on her pants very tightly, as they are sliding down over her backside, as can be seen from the rear view of her. She is holding her Big Ass Pistol in a two-handed grip.

Carmen Talavera stands in the centre of the group and she certainly stands out from the crowd with her flaming red hair and white mini-dress. Carmen is well-endowed in the breast department and, as can be seen by her backless dress, she is not wearing a bra. Naughty! Is she just a slut or something more sinister? I suspect the latter. She is clearly making full use of her good looks, as she strikes a seductive pose and runs a hand through her long hair. But why has she got her other hand behind her back? From the front she oozes sex appeal but from behind we see she is concealing a revolver. She is quite a honey trap!
Next in line is Azteca Orozca. She is armed with a pair of Big Ass Pistols. I love the way her crop top has slid off one shoulder to reveal her pink bra. That's a nice touch! Her microskirt just barely covers her backside, so she needs to be very careful if she bends over. Then again, she probably doesn't give a damn!
The final figure in the group, Marisol dos Santos, is the person I have nominated to be gang leader. Her pose, as she points an accusing finger, suggests she is a leader figure. She carries a 12 Gauge pump-action shotgun in her right hand. She wears a red basque, denim hot pants and thigh-length leather boots. She has a few red streaks in her hair, which are most likely extensions. She also wears more jewellery than any of the other gang members.
These are a very sexy looking gang and all of them have been beautifully sculpted. Even the dog shows an incredible degree of craftsmanship. A long time passed between me buying them and painting them. I don't know why because they were an absolute joy to paint. But they are done now, and I have another gang to add to the hellhole known as Mayhem City.
You can buy all six figures for £12.00 from the BCB webstore. Alternatively, the figures can be bought separately - £2.00 for Wookie the dog and £3.00 for each of the females. Next time, I'll review the male Hispanic gangers aka Los Nortenos.

Wednesday, 5 December 2012

At the same time as I bought the Reaper Children (shown in my last post) I bought this set - 50157 Townsfolk - Ladies of the Night, which is a polite way of saying prostitutes. I believe in calling a spade, a spade, so prostitutes they are. There are three 32mm scale figures in the set, although they are described as being 28mm scale. Yeah, right! We all know about "scale creep," don't we?

At the far left is the blonde bombshell. I like her pose, as she beckons a client to offer him a "good time." It is simple but effective. She wears a fur coat, mini-skirt and thigh length leather boots. Her fur coat was painted in Foundry British Blue Grey 75C. To this I added more Foundry White 33C for successive dry-brush layers until I ended up with pure white for the final dry-brush.
In the centre of the group is a young lady who is just a bit too skinny for my tastes, but that's just my opinion. However, I do like her hairstyle, which I think is very cute. She wears a crop top that covers her boobs but which leaves her midriff bare, and skin-tight leopard print pants. In her right hand she carries a small, pink purse.
At the far right is a hispanic woman, with slightly darker skin than the other two, and long, flowing black hair. She wears a red microskirt and killer red shoes. She also wears a suspender belt and stockings, always a winning combo in my opinion. Her clothing is accessorised with a studded belt and a load of silver bracelets on her left wrist

These are three very nicely sculpted figures and they certainly look the part. Amongst my collection of civilian figures I have an overly high proportion of prostitute figures, some bought and some sculpted by myself. What can I say? I'm a sucker for good looking women in revealing clothing. I have seen this set on one of my follower's blogs and he had converted them so that they were all armed. My apologies for forgetting who had done the conversions but it was quite a while ago. I guess he was thinking that when the apocalypse comes, some streetwalkers would arm themselves for protection. A good example of this is with the Foundry Street Girls sets from their Street Violence range. I'm happy to leave the figures unarmed. This set can be found in the Reaper Chronoscope range and it cost me £5.60 at the Miniature Heroes webstore.

Sunday, 2 December 2012

This set from Reaper, 50042 Townsfolk - Modern Children, fills a niche in the market. Very few figure companies make figures of contemporary children. Hasslefree Miniatures is a notable exception. So, I was pleased to see this set in Reaper's excellent Chronoscope range.

The set consists of three 28mm scale schoolchildren. At the far left of the group is a young lass standing in a casual pose with her hands on her hips. I do not like her hairstyle, but that is just a personal opinion. I painted her sweat shirt in Foundry Ochre 4 and her jeans in Foundry Tomb Blue 23. For her blonde hair I used Foundry Canvas 8.
The kid in the middle is in a more animated pose. He could be walking to or from school. His backpack features a portrait of Harry Potter on the back with the Harry Potter logo above it. Fiddly work, I can tell you, but I like how it's come out. His hoodie jacket was painted with Foundry Spearshaft 13 and his jeans with Foundry Night Sky 62.
At the far right is a kid on a skateboard and he is my favourite figure out of the set. He was the easiest out of the trio to paint. I used Foundry Forest Green 26 for his jacket, Foundry White 33 for his T-shirt and trainers, Foundry Bay Brown 42 for his trousers and Foundry Granite 31B for his skateboard.

These are a welcome addition to my collection of civilians, as I don't have many figures of children. This set cost me £4.90 from the Miniature Heroes webstore. I have mentioned them before in previous reviews of Reaper figures. For UK-based customers, they are worth patronising as they pay the postage costs from America, and more importantly, any customs charges. You may have to wait up to three weeks for the figures to arrive from America, but I didn't mind that. The fact that I knew that I didn't have to worry about Customs and Excises ripping me off if I placed too large an order made it well worth the wait.

Wednesday, 28 November 2012

I'd like to start by thanking everyone who commented on my first ATZ-FFO batrep. The new format seems to have been a big hit with you and is one that I will stick with for the foreseeable future. I had a lot of fun playing the Day One scenario and I'm looking forward to continuing my campaign with the rest of Team Vampifan. I'd like to share some of my views on the scenario and on the FFO rules.
I'll start with the rules and I have to say that they are a vast improvement on the two previous versions of ATZ. Everything seemed to flow more easily and I spent a lot less time referring to the rule book and the Quick Reference Sheets. A handy tip for you players - I printed out the QRS pages on to thin card and used them rather than the rulebook. Printing them on card-stock gives them durability, which is very useful for something that is going to see a lot of use.
The In Sight rules worked fine, as did the Melee Combat rules, which I particularly like. I'm glad that you no longer have to divide your attack dice if fighting against multiple opponents. Mind you, I wouldn't want to take on zombies unarmed. The shooting rules have barely changed from before and I only got to use them once. Take note of the consequences of gun play during the first few weeks of the Outbreak because gunfire can attract zombies and the police, as happened in my game. The Star Power advantage will be a great boon to many a party of heroes. Remember that this is an advantage that can be given to Grunts as well as Stars. It was a shame I forgot to use it but that was my problem for forgetting about it. It is tough being a citizen. They have the worst results on the reaction tables; they suffer a penalty when they want to Charge Into Melee and worst of all, they are subject to the Citizen Brown Pants test. The latter was one rule that I really did not like, but I understand why it has been included and so I will not ignore it or drop it. Thankfully, Vampifan no longer has to take it but Angie, Big Sil and Gap will. Let's see how that works out.
Moving on to the scenario itself, I had already played it using the BDTZ rules and to be honest, I'd read through the FFO version beforehand. So, I had a good idea of what to expect. Yeah, I know, I'm a naughty boy! Bite me! I could very easily have omitted the Gas Station encounter for Vampifan's third location but when I read it I knew that it was just the sort of challenge that I wanted to throw at Vampifan. But more importantly, it gave me the opportunity to showcase a lot more rules that would not have appeared otherwise.
Fellow blogger, Joe/Zabadak e-mailed me with some interesting criticisms of the scenario. First he asked why Rep is used for the Meet And Greet test and not People skill? I actually thought you did use People skill for this test but I double checked just to make sure and yes, Rep is used. If ever you were going to use People skill then surely this is what it was designed for. In future, I will be replacing Rep with People skill for this test. Call it a house rule if you want, but it makes a lot of sense to me.
Secondly, he asked why I didn't use my Driving or Fitness skills on the Get There tests taken in between each location depending if my character was travelling by vehicle or on foot respectively? Again, it's an excellent point and I do wish I had. I just never thought of it at the time. Isn't hindsight wonderful?
Thirdly, he bemoaned the lack of people in each of the encounters. This is something I heartily agree with. Mayhem City should have been teeming with people. After all, this was only Day one of the Outbreak. Many people would not even be aware of what was going on, or if they were aware, many would not believe it. Now I understand that Ed wanted to keep the game simple and lots of civilians on the board may have confused things. Plus, how many gamers could fill a city centre location (or wherever) with a horde of innocent bystanders? Well, I could, and again, in hindsight, I wish I had. It would have made the set up times for each location a lot longer but on the plus side, my boards would have looked a damned sight more impressive and realistic.
Finally, he thought it "laughable" that Vampifan would keep his katana in his office. Obviously, I totally disagreed with him. Anyone else think it was a "laughable" thing to do?

Armorcast sexy female vampire

Moving on, it was my 55th birtday last Saturday and it went very well for me. My mum bought me a Vampirella trading card binder and my brother bought me the Avengers boxed set of Marvel Comics DVD films, which included Iron Man, Iron Man 2, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor and Avengers Assembled. That'll keep me happy over the Christmas holidays when there is sod all worth watching on TV.
I bought a couple of presents for myself, something I always do. First up was an Armorcast 28mm scale sexy female vampire, which is shown to the right of here. That picture is taken directly from the Armorcast website and as you can see, she bears a remarkable similarity to a certain "sexy female vampire" whom I greatly admire. I was lucky in the fact that she arrived from America on the day of my birthday. What great timing! I think that her head is oversized but apart from that she is a very good sculpt and she looks a lot better in the flesh. What is particularly pleasing about her is that she is exactly 28mm tall from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. It makes a refreshing change to find a 28mm scale figure that is exactly that and not heroically scaled.

1/5 scale resin cast Vampirella model

My major purchase was for a 1/5th scale resin cast model of Vampirella, which I ordered from King of Hobbies, a garage sculptor of considerable talent. You can see her in the photo to the left of here shown assembled but unpainted. The sculpture is based on a painting by Boris Vallejo and comes in nine parts - head, torso, two arms, two legs, skull, boot and base. It'll need a lot of prep work before I can make it as there are a lot of mould lines to file down. I'll pin the arms, legs and head to the torso when I come to glueing her together. Then I'll paint the four components (Vampirella, boot, skull and base) separately before I stick them together. This will be a major project and I suspect I'll wait until the new year before I start work on her. I am slowly building up quite a collection of large scale Vampirella models. Just wait until you see the one I'm getting for Christmas. She is the most awesome model I have ever seen and I'll let you see here next month closer to Christmas.

In other news, I have finished making my Stoelzel's Structures 28mm scale Warehouse. I just have to decide how many crates and pallets to fit inside. I did print out a lot of them, but they are easy to make. I am currently painting 15 Acheson Creations 28mm scale Crazies and Cultists and 8 of their zombie figures.
On the reading front I have just started reading Pretty When She Kills by Rhiannon Frater. This is the sequel to Pretty When She Dies, one of the best vampire stories I have read in a long time. I have high hopes for it but if it is as good as I suspect it will be, I'm going to be very frustrated waiting for the third part of the trilogy, Pretty When She Destroys due out some time in 2013.
I only had two visits to the cinema this month. First was to see Skyfall, the latest James Bond film. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it it did live up to the hype. Second was Love Bite, a low budget British comedy/horror film that was a cross between The Inbetweeners and Ginger Snaps. Yes, it was a werewolf movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has a great sting-in-the-tail ending.
Well, that's all for my wafflings for this month. If you've made it this far, many thanks.

Saturday, 24 November 2012

PART THREE - GAS STATION
Noting that the fuel gauge on his pick-up truck was reading less than half full, Vampifan decided to stop at the nearest gas station on his way home and top up the gas tank. There was a queue of traffic waiting to get served, but it wasn't too long to wait before Vampifan reached the pumps.I had to roll 2d6 against Vampifan's Rep on the Get There table (see p.4 of the Day One scenario) and he passed 1d6. Travelling by vehicle meant he had to compare the destination number (in this case, 3) with his Rep. If it was lower (it was) he counted as passing 2d6. This meant that he was not delayed in arriving at his destination. So far, so good.

The above photo shows another part of Central Mayhem City, with the Golden Shield gas station located in the centre of the board in sector 5. For those of you who are curious to know what the impressive looking building at the centre back is I can tell you that it is a 3D jigsaw of the Quebec City Hall. This was a present for me from my parents when they last visited Canada. It only shows the front of the building and a small part of the sides. I don't know what scale it is, but it is certainly a lot smaller than 28mm scale. However, it makes a canny backdrop and works well in a city centre environment. It's just a shame it wasn't three feet long to cover all of the back of my board.

This photo shows the main street running from the west at the bottom to the east at the top. It was when I was placing the white single-decker bus that I realised I had placed my vehicles facing the wrong way. I had totally forgotten that Americans drive on the "wrong" side of the road. Ooops!

The reverse view of the same street, this time running from east at the bottom to west at the top. The pieces of the 3D jigsaw are made of foamboard and this photo gives you a good view of the 3D nature of it. I like 3D jigsaws. Actually, I like all jigsaws.

"Yo, homey! We're taking your wheels! Hand over the keys and step away from the vehicle or I will pop a cap in your muthafucking ass!"
"You tell him, Leroy. You tell him."
As Vampifan walked round to the gas pump, two black youths, Leroy Watts and Randy Pearlman, accosted him. Leroy wore a red bandana on his head as part of his gang colours. The two teenagers were armed with a 9mm pistol apiece and they were deadly serious about their intention.Here's where things got real interesting! By coming to this location third, Vampifan automatically activated a Robbery encounter (see p.71). I first rolled to see how many robbers would appear using the Gang column of the How Many table (see p.62) I rolled a 3, which was modified to a 4 for being in an urban area, for a result of PG+1 (PG = Player Group). The robbers consisted of two Rep:3 Gangers, (pre-generated by me) who were placed 2" away from Vampifan, in sight and in no cover. They were automatically classed as Enemies (see p.64) of Vampifan.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Vampifan replied as he drew his katana from its sheath. With a scream of "KIAI!" he charged at the two gangstas. This encounter had to be resolved before rolling for activation. First of all, the leader of both sides had to make a People Challenge. Vampifan had a People score of 4, whilst Leroy had a score of 1. Vampifan won the Challenge by 2-0. At this point he could hand over the truck (no way!) or he could initiate combat with an In Sight test, with Vampifan counting as Inactive. To take an In Sight test, all figures involved rolls 1d6 per level of their Rep. This number is modified by circumstances (see p.17). In this case, Vampifan had no modifiers but the Gangers suffered a -1 penalty to their Reps for being Active. Whoever scores the most successes (rolls of 1, 2 or 3) goes first. Vampifan scored 2 successes, Leroy scored 1 success and Randy scored 0 successes.To ease play, a die is placed next to each figure, showing how many successes they scored. I use white dice for this purpose.Vampifan wanted to Charge Into Melee, but first he had to take the Citizens' Brown Pants test (see p.17). He rolled a 2 on 1d6, which was less than or equal to his Rep, so he'd passed the test. For the Charge Into Melee test, Vampifan was again hindered by suffering a -1d6 penalty for being a Citizen. He only rolled 1d6 and each of the Gangers rolled 2d6. However, luck was on Vampifan's side. He won the roll off by 1-0 against Leroy and drew 1-1 against Randy. This meant he could charge Leroy and Leroy was not allowed to fire back at Vampifan. However, in the second combat, Randy was allowed to fire one shot at Vampifan before the melee began. Randy rolled a 2, which was added to his Shooting score of 3 for a result of 5. This was a clear miss (see p.26).

Randy Pearlman must have been at the back of the queue when God was handing brains out. He totally panicked and fired off a single round at Vampifan. Fortunately, the bullet went way too high, not only missing Vampifan but more importantly, any of the gas pumps. Anyone who discharged a firearm in Mayhem City had consequences to face. First of all, it inevitably attracted police attention and secondly, it could potentially attract the attention of any zombies nearby. Sure enough, from an alleyway across the street, a lone zombie shuffled into view, his dead eyes fixated on the rash youth.The noise of gunfire is one of the ways to attract zombies (see p.46). Every time a shot is fired you should immediately roll 1d6. In an urban area a roll of 4-6 meant that one zombie was generated. The rules for Placing The Zombies (see p.46) suggests rolling 1d6, doubling the score and consulting the clock face diagram on that page to see where the zombie is placed. This only gives 6 possible locations. In my house rules I will roll 1d12 instead of 1d6 to give me twice as many possible locations. I rolled a 6 on the 1d12 and placed my zombie 12" away from Randy at the six o'clock spot just inside the alley behind the gangsta.

Vampifan parried Leroy's pistol away from him with the flat side of his katana, then he quickly jabbed the sword's pommel into the gangsta's forehead. Leroy went out like a light and was unconcious before he hit the ground. Randy, the idiotic punk who had shot at him, would not be treated so mercifully. Vampifan thrust the katana into Randy's stomach and pushed it all the way to the hilt. Randy slowly dropped to his knees, as Vampifan withdrew the blade. Trying desperately to staunch the flow of blood. Randy immediately dropped his pistol so that he could use both hands to clutch at his ruptured stomach.Both combats went exactly the same way. Vampifan rolled 5d6 (3d6 for his Melee score plus a bonus of 2d6 for using a two-handed weapon). The Gangers had Melee scores of 3, but suffered a -1d6 penalty for being unarmed. Note that the rules for Improvised Weapons states that a two-handed ranged weapon (like a rifle) counts as an Improvised Weapon, but a one-handed ranged weapon (like a pistol) does not (see p.29). Vampifan won both combats by 2-0 and in each case, he scored a Knocked Down result. The two gangstas each passed 1d6 on the Recover From Knock Down test and thus were Out Of the Fight. They should not have picked on Vampifan!

TURN 1. Activation - Vampifan = 5, Zombies = 1.
The zombie began to cross the road. He now had the smell of blood in his nostrils and he was hungry!

TURN 2. Activation - Vampifan = 3, Zombies = 2, Cops =4.Note that if three or more groups appear in a turn, nominate one group to roll with the Zombie group (if present) for the purposes of rolling doubles. In my case, I'll almost always choose Vampifan.Whenever shots are fired during days 1-10 of the Outbreak, the Police will turn up to investigate the shooting in 1d3 turns. In this instance, it took 2 turns for a patrol car with 2 cops (one Rep:4, the other Rep:3) to arrive on the scene.
Alerted by the garage owner that shots had been fired, a policer cruiser pulled up just outside the entrance to the gas station. Patrolman Stavros Katsirdakis and his young partner, Rookie Patrolman Mike Shelly alighted their vehicle. Taking in the scene in front of them, they both drew their pistols and pointed them at Vampifan.
"Drop your weapon!" ordered Katsirdakis in a commanding voice.
Vampifan turned towards them, still holding his katana in both hands, the blade pointed at the ground.
"Officers, I can explain," he stated calmly. "It was self-defence. They open fired on me. Check the garage's CCTV. That'll confirm I'm telling the truth."It was now time to roll on the Meet and Greet table (see p.63). The leader of both sides rolled 1d6 per point of their Rep. However, Vampifan suffered a -1d6 penalty because he was outnumbered by two to one. Looking for successes (scores of 1-3), Vampifan scored 2 successes, as did Patrolman Katsirdakis. Checking the Police Results table (see p.64) a result of "player scored the same" meant that pleasantries were exchanged between both sides and the current ER (Encounter Rating) of this area was immediately reduced from 5 to 4. In essence, the police believed Vampifan. I figured that Katsirdakis recognised Leroy Watts as a known criminal with previous form.

The zombie moved next to the prone Randy Pearlman, who was now writhing in agony on the ground. He knelt down and grabbed Randy's head in both hands. To the utter astonishment of all the bystanders, the zombie bit a large chunk of flesh from Randy's right cheek and swallowed it. Randy's screams rose in pitch as he tried to pull free but the zombie's grip was too tight.Whenever a zombie sees a human fall Stunned, Out Of the Fight or Obviously Dead it will move next to the victim to feast upon their flesh (see p.48). Roll 1d6 and place the die next to the victim to show how long the zombie will spend feasting. I always use red dice to show how long the feast will last. The number on the die is reduced by one each turn afterwards until it reaches zero. At this point, remove the die. The zombie will then move off in a random direction like those found on a clockface (see p.46).

"Oh, man, that is just gross!" Patrolman Katsirdakis said, backing away from the scene.
"For God's sake, get back in the car!" Rookie Shelly screamed.
They quickly turned tail, seeking the safety of their patrol car. Vampifan just stood mesmerised.The first time a human sees a zombie feasting upon a victim within 6" of them, they must take the See The Feast test (see p.49) and roll 2d6 against their Rep. Once the test has been passed it need never be taken again. Fortunately, Vampifan passed 2d6 and the cops passed 1d6 on the test (see the Universal Reaction tests on the Quick Reference Sheets). Vampifan was Stunned and unable to act when he next activated. Katsirdakis and Shelly had to Duck Back and were Stunned for 1d3 turns. I rolled a 2 for them both.

TURN 3. Activation - Vampifan = 1, Zombies = 3, Police = 4
Vampifan and the two patrolmen were simply too shocked to move. This was all far too surreal for them.
The zombie turned his attention to Randy's neck and clamped his jaws upon his victim's throat. A geyser of hot blood spurted in a huge arc from the gaping wound made by the ravenous zombie.

TURN 4. Activation - Vampifan = 2, Zombies = 3, Cops = 3.
The zombie continued to chew upon Randy's neck and gulped down the blood that was still fountaining, as Randy's heart carried on pumping, although weaker now and not for much longer.
"This can't go on," Vampifan thought. "I have to stop him."
He took a few steps to get to the left side of the zombie and with a swift swing from his katana ended the grisly feasting by decapitating the zombie.First, Vampifan passed the Citizen's Brown Pants test. He drew 1-1 on the Charge Into Melee test. Then he won 4-1 on the Melee Combat test and ended up with an Obviously Dead result for damage.

TURN 5. Activation - Vampifan = 6, Police = 2.
Katsirdakis and Shelly stepped back outside and approached Vampifan at a slow pace. Respect and gratitude showed on their faces.
"Sir, if you could leave us your contact details you're free to go home," Katsirdakis said. "We'll sort this mess out."
"Thank you, sir," Vampifan replied gratefully. "You guys take care out there. This world has changed. I do believe the Apocalypse is here."
This brought an end to Vampifan's third encounter of the day. He filled up his gas tank and headed for home.

PART FOUR - HOME
Vampifan had moved out of the urban environs of Mayhem City and was now in the suburb of Springvale. He lived in a semi-detached house and as he approached it, a feeling of relief washed over him. But the day wasn't over yet.For the final time I rolled on the Get There table and happily, Vampifan passed 2d6. Despite many traffic jams that were blighting Mayhem City on this particular day, he got home in good time. Next, I rolled 1d6 on the Contact Days 1-10 table for a result of terrified citizens. Rolling on the How Many table I was pleased to see that there was only one. He was placed a mere 1" away from the front door of Vampifan's home.

The photo above shows a very small part of Springvale, one of many suburbs of Mayhem City. Vampifan's home can be seen in the centre right of the photo and is the only one with a civilian outside of it. It looks like most folk have heeded the warnings of the police and are staying indoors.

As with the other photos I took of the game boards prior to the action starting, here is a view of the main street running from the west at the bottom of the photo to the east at the top of the photo.

And here is the reverse view. Vampifan's pick-up truck is the only vehicle moving in this rather quiet and peaceful neighbouhood. It looks like Big Sil and Angie are at home because you can see in the bottom right of the photo that the side door of their house is open.

TURN 2. Activation - Vampifan = 3, Civilian = 1.
Vampifan got out of his pick-up truck, locked the door and walked towards the front of house. Eyeing the panicked-looking stranger with suspicion, he drew his katana, but only held it in one hand.
"Can I help you, sir?" he asked.
"Get out of my way!" the stranger shouted as he pushed Vampifan to the ground.As mentioned before, combat with terrified citizens does not involve taking the Charge Into Melee test. Melee combat just automatically happens. This time, Vampifan rolled 4d6 (3d6 for his Melee score plus a 1d6 bonus for using a one-handed weapon), whilst the civilian rolled 2d6 (3d6 for his Melee score minus a 1d6 penalty for being unarmed). Vampifan rolled very badly and lost the combat by 1-0.Yes, he didn't score a single success despite rolling twice as many dice as the civilian. The stranger rolled on the Melee Results table and scored a Knocked Down result. Vampifan rolled on the Recover From Knock Down table and passed 2d6. He was classed as being Stunned and couldn't act for a turn.

TURN 3. Activation - Vampifan = 2, Civilians = 4.
Vampifan lay still for a moment and contemplated the events of the day. It had certainly been a day like no other in his life. The citizen who had knocked him down was long gone as he sped away

TURN 4. Activation - Vampifan = 1, Civilians = 2.
Vampifan stood back up and approached his front door. He unlocked it with a sigh of relief and stepped inside. It was great to get back home.

AFTERMATH
In all respects, this had been a successful mission for Vampifan, so he was eligible for either a Rep increase or a Skill increase. I decided that a Rep increase would be the better option (see p.71). To qualify for a Rep increase, the character had to have had a successful encounter, killed at least one zombie, not Runaway and not gone Out Of the Fight.Vampifan qualified on all four counts. I rolled 1d6 and scored a 5. This was higher than his current Rep of 4, so he raised his Rep by one level to Rep:5. That was great news but it got even better. To become a Survivor before the 21st day of the Outbreak, a character must pass three "milestones" (see p.9). Under the Citizen No More rules Vampifan had to have killed at least three zombies, have had combat with an armed character and caused him damage (this could be either ranged combat or melee combat) and finally, have taken and successfully passed the See The Feast test. Vampifan qualified on all three counts. So, in the space of a few hours he went from a Rep:4 Civilian to a Rep:5 Survivor. On top of that, he was now armed with his BA Pistol (normally kept at home) and his katana. Plus, he came home with four Luxury Items and one lot of Medical Supplies. I could not have asked for a better start for Vampifan.

Wednesday, 21 November 2012

Okay, here it is, my first ATZ-FFO batrep. This sees the hero of my campaign, Scotty "Vampifan" Bryant, on the first day of the outbreak of the zombie plague. The Day One scenario can be downloaded for free at http://site.twohourwargames.com/ATZFFO/DayOneRough.pdf
This batrep will purposefully be rules heavy, as I explain the game mechanics of the new rules for the benefit of new players and for experienced players who'd like to know how FFO differs from the previous rules, Better Dead Than Zed. I should point out that the Day One scenario is designed with the beginner in mind and is very user friendly. Quite a few of the basic rules like In Sight tests, initial zombie placement and PEFs are not used in this scenario. Melee combat against civilians works differently to the normal game to keep things simple.
All notes relating to the rules will be written in blue textto differentiate them from the rest of the batrep. All page numbers will refer to the ATZ-FFO rulebook unless otherwise noted.
The scenario takes place in the centre of Mayhem City (an urban area) for parts 1, 2 and 3 and in the suburban area of Springvale for part 4. It all takes place during the daytime. All four encounters were played on 3' by 3' game boards made up of ground tiles from WWG's Streets of Legend set and an assortment of buildings primarily from WWG, plus a couple from Genet Models and Stoelzel's Structures.

PART ONE - WORKPLACE
Vampifan was on his lunchbreak when he saw a news report on the TV in the restaurant where he was dining, announcing that dead people had reanimated and were attacking the living. The police were advising everyone to stay indoors and lock themselves in until further notice. Due to his job and hobbies, Vampifan was something of an expert on the undead and his initial reaction was to dismiss the news as a hoax. Zombies did not exist in real life, only in fiction. Still, on the off chance that the news was true, he decided to head back to his office, where he was manager and graphic designer of a computer games company called Vampisoft, pick up his gear, then collect his pick-up truck and drive home, stopping on the way to fill up the gas tank. He slowly made his way back to the Vampisoft offices. Just as he was about to cross the road to the office block, two clearly panicked citizens ran towards him.

This photo shows the part of Central Mayhem City where the Vampisoft offices were located. The offices are actually my lawyers' offices but I designed a new logo to temporarily stick above the front door. it's a simple way to transform the building.

This photo shows the main street running from north (bottom of the photo) to south (top of the photo). The board is divided into nine sectors, each 1' square. Sector 1 appears at the bottom left of the photo and sector 9 is in the top left of the photo.The Vampisoft offices are located in sector 5 in the middle of the board.

And here's the reverse view of the same street running from south at the bottom to north at the top. Before play could begin I had to roll 1d6 on the Contact Days 1-10 table (see p.61), with a -1 modifier because it was Daytime. I rolled a 4 which was modified to 3 for a result of Citizens. Next, I rolled 1d6 on the How Many table (see p.62), this time with a +1 modifier because the encounter was in an urban area. I rolled a 2, which was modified to a 3 for a result of 2 Citizens. They were placed 1d6 inches in front of the objective and facing the player character. I rolled a 6, so they were situated 6" away from the front door of the Vampisoft offices.

TURN 1. Activation - Vampifan = 3, Civilians = 2.
Vampifan walked to the corner of the T-junction and began to cross the main street as he warily eyed the two men in front of him.

The two terrified civilians, charged at him, intent on knocking him out of their way rather than running past him. "How odd!" thought Vampifan.In the Day One scenario, there is no need to take the Charge Into Melee test against terrified civilians. Melee combat against them happens automatically. Here's how it happens. Vampifan is Rep:4 but under my house rules, he has a Melee score of 3. Because he was unarmed he suffered a -1 penalty, which gavehim a Melee score of 2. The two civilians were both Rep:3 and because they were also unarmed they also suffered a -1 penalty to their Melee scores. That meant all three combatants had Melee scores of 2. In FFO a character fights each opponent, attacking them in turn (see p.31 for the Melee Combat table). Both opponents rolled a number of dice equal to their Melee scores and looked for successes. A success being any roll of a 1, 2 or 3 . Against the man in the suit Vampifan won the combat by 1 success to 0. I rolled 1d6 to see what, if any damage, Vampifan inflicted (see p.31 for Melee Results). I rolled a 1, which would normally have been an Obviously Dead result. However, in the Day One scenario, any damage done to a citizen is ignored and he simply runs past your character.

"Hey, watch it, buddy!" Vampifan shouted as he shoved the man in the suit away. As he turned from watching the guy run away, the second civilian ploughed into him.

Vampifan was sent sprawling and landed on his back, as the second citizen knocked him down.
In the second combat, Vampifan scored 0 successes but the civilian scored 2. I rolled 1d6 to see what damage was inflicted on Vampifan. I rolled a 5 for a result of Knocked Down. Vampifan had to roll 2d6 against his Rep on the Recover From Knock Down test (see the Citizen Reaction Tests chart in the Quick Reference Section). He passed 2d6 and was Stunned. He could not act until he had spent one full turn of activation doing nothing. I could have avoided this if I had remembered the Star Power advantage he had, but I forgot all about it. D'oh!

TURN 3. Activation - Vampifan = 3, Civilians = 4.Any roll that totals 7 for Activation results in another roll on the Contact Days 1-10 table (see p.5 of the Day One scenario). This rule appears because the Day One scenario does not use PEFs and so allows for further encounters with citizens or zombies. This time I ended up with 3 Civilians, who were placed 4" away from the entrance to the Vampisoft offices. Vampifan had two things going for him this turn. Being Rep:4, he could could activate this turn and because the Citizens were only Rep:3, they couldn't activate. To activate, a character must roll equal to or less than their Rep scores on the Activation dice (see p.13).
Not wanting to fight a trio of terrified civilians, who had suddenly appeared in front of him, Vampifan decided to run around them.

With a sudden spurt of speed, Vampifan swerved to one side of the startled group and ran past them into the safety of the Vampisoft offices.The distance between Vampifan and the front door of his workplace was 11", a distance that could be covered if he made a successful Fast Move test (see p.15). Normally, you would roll 2d6 and compare the results to the Reps of all those in the party taking the test. For each d6 passed, the character could add half his Movement score to his normal Movement. However, Vampifan has the Slow Attribute, so I only rolled 1d6 for him. A result of 3 meant he passed the test and could add 4" to his Move of 8" for a total of 12", enough to get him to the front door.
This ended Part 1 of the scenario. Vampifan had not met any zombies and speculation amongst his co-workers was rife as to whether the news stories were true or not. The reward for reaching his workplace first was that Vampifan was able to collect his katana, his laptop computer, one lot of medical supplies and enough cash from the safe to class as 3 Luxury Items. All in all, it was a hell of a good haul. Now he had to go and retrieve his pick-up truck from where he'd parked it not far away from the office block.

PART 2 - VEHICLETo reach his next destination without delay, Vampifan had to roll on the Getting There table (see p.4 of the Day One scenario). He passed 2d6 by rolling against his Rep and reached the location without delay. At the start of each separate encounter you have to roll 1d6 on the Contact Days 1-10 table and place any opposition 1d6" away from the objective and facing the player character. This time I ended up with 3 terrified citizens, (a boy, a man and a woman) 1" away from the pick-up truck, blocking Vampifan's way.

Here we are, still in Central Mayhem City, and Vampifan takes a short cut past the building in the centre front of the photo above to reach his pick-up truck, hidden from view by that very same building.

This is the view up the main street from the north (in the bottom of the photo) to the south (at the top of the photo). Vampifan's black pick-up truck can be seen in sector 5, in the middle of the board in between the red hatchback and the blue sedan.

This is the reverse view showing the main street from the south (at the bottom of the photo) to the north (at the top).The large office block belongs to a firm of solicitors, even though it looks remarkably similar to the Vampisoft offices.

TURN 1. Activation - Vampifan = 4, Civilians = 1.
As Vampifan began to cross the road, he immediately noticed the panicked look on the faces of the three citizens running towards him and he had a flash of deja vu. Not wanting to experience his previous mishap, he withdrew his katana and yelled, "just stay the fuck away from me!"

The terrified citizens totally ignored his warning and seemed determined to rush through him, rather than taking the sensible option and avoiding him.This time, Vampifan rolled 5d6 for his Melee attack dice (3d6 for his Melee score, plus a 2d6 bonus for using a two-handed weapon). As before, the citizens only rolled 2d6 each, making combat a very one-sided affair. Against the teenage boy, Vampifan won 3-0. Against the man wearing the flat cap he won 2-1, and against the young woman he won 2-0. No damage was inflicted as this was not a normal melee combat.

Vampifan held his ground and the trio rapidly moved past him without any harm being done to either side.

TURN 2. Activation - Vampifan = 4, Zombies =3.The Activation dice came up with a total of 7, resulting in a new roll on the Contact Days 1-10 table. This time, I rolled up 2 Zombies and they were placed 2" away from Vampifan's pick-up truck and just 3" away from him. This forced Vampifan to take the Zed Or No Zed test (see p.49). He passed 2d6 with rolls of 3 and 1, so he could now take the Charge Into Melee test.
As two more citizens staggered into view, Vampifan saw their blood soaked clothing and horrendous wounds that should have lain out any normal human. The woman had lost her right foot and and her right hand and was hobbling along on the stump of her leg. The old man was also limping badly, with his left foot facing behind him as it had been twisted through 180 degrees. He also had a metal spike piecing his right thigh. Vampifan had no doubts at all in his mind just what they were - they were the walking dead - zombies! So, the news stories were right after all, he thought. He gulped and gripped his katana tighter in his hands that were now trembling.

He thought about charging and attacking them but by the time he had made his mind up they were on him. He was still amazed at the fact that they could move at all, given the extent of their injuries.Before Vampifan could take the Charge Into Melee test he first had to pass the Citizens Brown Pants test (see p.30). This test affects all civilians and remains in play until they become either Gangers or Survivors. Vampifan had to roll 1d6 against his Rep. He rolled a 2 and so passed the test. Now he could take the Charge Into Melee test (see p.30). Unfortunately, he suffered a -1d6 penalty for being a citizen and so only rolled 1d6 for the test instead of 2d6. He rolled against his Rep and scored a 6 - a failure. The opposition should also roll but in the case of zombies, they never roll and always count as having passed 1d6. Because the zombies had passed more d6 than Vampifan I had them charging him.

Vampifan quickly regained his composure and swung his katana at the female zombie. The devastatingly sharp blade sliced through the zombie's neck with consumate ease and she crumpled to the ground as her head departed her body in a spray of blood.Zombies roll 3d6 in melee combat and are classed as using Improvised Weapons (this gives them no bonus or penalty to hit). Vampifan rolled 5d6 because of him wielding his katana in a two-handed grip. He scored 3 successes to the zombie's 0 successes. In actual fact, Vampifan only rolled 2 successes but he gained a bonus +1 success for fighting a zombie (see p.31). Rolling 1d6 on the Melee Results table (see p.31), Vampifan rolled a 3, which was the same number of successes he'd scored but wasn't a "1", meaning his opponent was Out Of the Fight (OOF). However, all OOF results against zombies are classed as Obviously Dead (see p.49). He had just killed his first zombie.

His reverse swing against the male zombie was not so accurate as the katana sliced into the left shoulder of the walking dead man. Still, it landed with enough force to unbalance him and the zombie was knocked over.In the second round of combat Vampifan and the zombie both scored 1 success, but the +1 bonus for Vampifan fighting a zombie meant he won the combat by 2-1. I rolled for damage and this time Vampifan only scored a Knock Down result. Any result of Knocked Down against a zombie, meant the zombie was knocked down to the ground but was not Stunned. The Recover From Knock Down test was not taken. The zombie would regain its feet when it was next active at the cost of its full movement (see p.49).

TURN 3. Activation - Vampifan = 3, Zombies =6.
Standing next to the prone male zombie, Vampifan stabbed him in the forehead for an automatic kill. He wiped the blood from his katana as he walked across the street to his pick-up truck.
This ended Part 2 of the Day one scenario. Vampifan's next destination was a gas station to stock up on gas. Because my campaign is set in America, I'm using the American term "gas" for petrol, although I must admit it always baffles me why Americans call petrol, which is a liquid, "gas!"